# Cigar Cooler



## evmedievalol (Mar 27, 2015)

I have been using Magic Chef wine cooler as a humidor for years.
i always have a hard time trying to keep the humidity and temp constant. If i take out or add many cigars at once then the humidity fluctuates a lot. Then i have to go through the headache of adding water to cat litter and stuff. 
Not to mention it's more painful to keep the humidity constant in all 3 level storages. 

1) Looking for the best cigar cooler that has built in humidity controller.
2) if not, then does Cigar Oasis Plus 3.0 Electric Humidor Smoking Accessory keep the humidity the same in all levels of storage?

PS. i found Whynter CHC-251S to be the best so far. It doesn't have humidity controller however


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## GunnyJ (Jun 22, 2018)

I've had my Whynter CHC-251S for almost two years now and as far as the "set it and forget it" factor goes, it's the best. I keep humidification "things" at the top and bottom. But seriously, you're never going to have the perfect 70-70, and the laws of physics dictate that humidor additions and subtractions will affect temperature and humidity.

My advice to you is grab your favorite stick, a pour of good bourbon, and relax.

Now that you've come back from the above advice (consider a repeat...  )...

As I said, I've had my Whynter for almost two years, it's very much hands off. But it's still a tool, it'll never be 70-70 if you keep it in your house (like a wood humidor). Mine fluctuates based on house temp and humidity, BUT not like a desktop humidor will. Throughout the year I've noticed temps between 63 and 65 and humidity between 62 and 74. The humidity is a reflection on the heat and humidification of my house (I think), temp is more controlled by the unit. However, heat and humidity over time (say for 6 months) averages 64 and 68. 

So over time I find my cigars can be a little stiffer that a typical B&M but I don't like the softer smokes anyhow. At the end of the day, over the course of time, the Whynter does great for keeping your sticks in good shape. I have some that are now 4 years old and they're doing great. 

I get your desire to keep it simple, just don't sacrifice the quality of your cigars for easy humidors. You may spend a lot of money on cigars so protect that investment with your attention. You'll be happy you did.


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## evmedievalol (Mar 27, 2015)

GunnyJ said:


> I've had my Whynter CHC-251S for almost two years now and as far as the "set it and forget it" factor goes, it's the best. I keep humidification "things" at the top and bottom. But seriously, you're never going to have the perfect 70-70, and the laws of physics dictate that humidor additions and subtractions will affect temperature and humidity.
> 
> My advice to you is grab your favorite stick, a pour of good bourbon, and relax.
> 
> ...


Does fan blow air directly at the cigars? if so then id be afraid the cigars would get dried.

I get so annoyed when I add a lot of cigars, humidity drops, then i add water to cat litter. Then humidity shoots up. Then i have to take out the cat litter, wait, and wait till cat litter dries and do it again FML


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## GunnyJ (Jun 22, 2018)

OK, so I just looked at it and it appears that the main fan unit is at the top. But I put the supplied drawer there instead of a shelf (purely so upper level sticks wouldn't fall off a shelf) so the cedar drawer is getting hit by the fan, not the cigars.

Bro, sorry for your annoyance, but physics states that relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air compared to what the air can "hold" at that temperature. So if you introduce a lot of cigars...well, you described the problem.

My advice...let them be. Now granted my Whynter is pretty full but seriously, if you have a proven system (the Whynter or Magic Chef) consider tweaking it to optimal performance. The 70 - 70 is a perfect scenario that I, imho, generally won't be obtained by the typical consumer.

If your setup is a Whynter with Exquisicat(?) from PetsMart then here's what I do:

Enclosed drawer top and bottom
Middle tree areas are shelves
Top drawer holds four small humidifier units, one in each corner
Bottom of the unit has two cigar boxes (wooden), filled with distilled water sprayed exquisicat crystals, and they have a lot of holes drilled in to tops

I think what you need to consider is the long term rather than the now. You add sticks and humidity drops so you add water and humidity spikes. Try adding sticks and then wait a couple of days for the humidity to equalize. Patience Padawan...this is the beauty of cigars...like curing meat...essentially do stuff then wait. And don't try to achieve the impossible 70-70 for average people, rather consider a heat/humidity range acceptable for you where you live.

Cheers Mate...happy herfing!


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## bowhunter444 (Oct 16, 2020)

I use two winedors for my storage needs. I use Brovada packs for my humidity control . I use the 65% packs as I like my sticks on the drier side. I found out that the more you open them the more fluctuations you'll get. I use a small desk top humidor in the man cave for my weekly use and restock it as it gets empty that way I'm not always opening up the coolers. I wouldn't worry to much about minor spikes as it will happen as you add sticks you just need to let your humidity system work to stabilize the cooler it might take up to a week for this to happen so be patient. Also get yourself a good hydrometer I'm using Engbird bluetooth and am happy with them.























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## evmedievalol (Mar 27, 2015)

GunnyJ said:


> Try adding sticks and then wait a couple of days for the humidity to equalize. Patience Padawan...this is the beauty of cigars...like curing meat...essentially do stuff then wait. And don't try to achieve the impossible 70-70 for average people, rather consider a heat/humidity range acceptable for you where you live.
> 
> Cheers Mate...happy herfing!


i'm so paranoid that if i do that, then the sticks will dry out. I've had dried sticks that cracked, and had had sticks that had molds because the wineador was building up water inside.(i think this might have happened when i was moving to a different apartment. ) Last time i added a bunch of cigars, the humidity dropped to 58%(?). But you are saying i could've kept it at that humidity for a couple of days before adding humidity?


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## evmedievalol (Mar 27, 2015)

bowhunter444 said:


> I use two winedors for my storage needs. I use Brovada packs for my humidity control . I use the 65% packs as I like my sticks on the drier side. I found out that the more you open them the more fluctuations you'll get. I use a small desk top humidor in the man cave for my weekly use and restock it as it gets empty that way I'm not always opening up the coolers. I wouldn't worry to much about minor spikes as it will happen as you add sticks you just need to let your humidity system work to stabilize the cooler it might take up to a week for this to happen so be patient. Also get yourself a good hydrometer I'm using Engbird bluetooth and am happy with them.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Do you only have 2 boveda packs for the large cooler?
The drawer setup looks nice !


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## OneStrangeOne (Sep 10, 2016)

evmedievalol said:


> But you are saying i could've kept it at that humidity for a couple of days before adding humidity?


Yes! What you're measuring is the air, the cigars will maintain humidity for quite a while. For example if you have cigars that have been resting at 70 rh and you change the humidity in the air to 65 rh it will take roughly 5 weeks for the cigars to equalize to 65 rh. 
When you add cigars and you get that initial drop and add water to your KL it boosts the humidity in the air higher than what you want, so your new sticks are absorbing moisture to fast and risk cracking due to the sudden swelling, also your existing sticks are also absorbing extra moisture and will have to go through the whole equalization process again. By being patient and trusting the process you're cigars will smoke a whole lot better! 
I use KL in my large coolers and on average I only add water maybe once a year sometimes longer.


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## bowhunter444 (Oct 16, 2020)

evmedievalol said:


> Do you only have 2 boveda packs for the large cooler?
> 
> The drawer setup looks nice !


No I have 6 broveda packs in the larger cooler but you can never have too many. The extra bins are large humidor trays I picked up on Amazon for $15 apiece. They help keep things organized in the cooler

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## Jade Falcon (Jul 16, 2015)

Tagged.


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## Olecharlie (Oct 28, 2017)

Whytner 251s here, no complaints.


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## haegejc (Oct 2, 2018)

Whynter for NC's and a smaller Newair for CC's

NCs at 65rh and CCs at 62rh. Both using Boveda humidpacs. And










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## greekwookie (Mar 7, 2021)

haegejc said:


> Whynter for NC's and a smaller Newair for CC's
> 
> NCs at 65rh and CCs at 62rh. Both using Boveda humidpacs. And
> 
> ...


What are you using for humidification the the CC NewAir?


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## Jared Nomak (Dec 2, 2020)

Bowhunter - How do you like the little Audew? I have one of those and it seems to work well, although the temp reading on the door is off by a few degrees at any given time. Mine is stuffed full and I have at least 6 Boveda 72s in there, and it tends to stabilize around 67-68% with temps in the high 60s in the room (it lives in a 16x10 mancave that is itself humidified to 45% to protect acoustic musical instruments). It moves *very* slowly if I add sticks etc., I try not to open it much and have a desktop Savoy for more immediate use... 

Not trying to hijack the thread... figured the info may be useful to the OP.


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## DaveTheStick (Dec 10, 2020)

Whynter CHC-251S is no longer available, neither is the Newair400 Count Cigar Humidor. It looks like no one is making TEC cigar coolers in this size anymore. They have either the smaller TEC versions or a larger and more costly compressor based unit like the Newair 840 count humidor. I don't know if this is a supply chain issue or a marketing decision.


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## bowhunter444 (Oct 16, 2020)

Jared Nomak said:


> Bowhunter - How do you like the little Audew? I have one of those and it seems to work well, although the temp reading on the door is off by a few degrees at any given time. Mine is stuffed full and I have at least 6 Boveda 72s in there, and it tends to stabilize around 67-68% with temps in the high 60s in the room (it lives in a 16x10 mancave that is itself humidified to 45% to protect acoustic musical instruments). It moves *very* slowly if I add sticks etc., I try not to open it much and have a desktop Savoy for more immediate use...
> 
> Not trying to hijack the thread... figured the info may be useful to the OP.


Like it a lot. I use that one to keep all my Cuban cigars in. It holds right at 65 humidity seems very air tight and holds temps well. The only time it fluctuates is when I keep the door open to restock it but stabilizes quickly once the door is closed

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## haegejc (Oct 2, 2018)

greekwookie said:


> What are you using for humidification the the CC NewAir?


 @greekwookie I use Boveda 62% for my CC.


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## DaveTheStick (Dec 10, 2020)

I wonder if the shortage of TEC humidors is due to the semiconductor shortage.


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